Summary

Over the years and across the U.S., mass shootings have become an all-too-common occurrence. In 2018, there were 340 shootings alone. Unfortunately, after the year was over, 373 people had lost their lives. The city most impacted i.e. the city with the highest combination of deaths and injuries, was Pompano Beach (Parkland). Additionally, Pompano Beach (Parkland) had the shooting where the most lives were lost and the city of Trenton had the shooting with the most injuries.


Table of Summary Info

2018 Shootings by Month
Month Killed Injured
January 23 87
February 43 62
March 10 68
April 27 88
May 30 121
June 39 218
July 42 184
August 21 152
September 35 128
October 40 116
November 50 62
December 13 61


Specific Incident

On February 14, 2018, one of the worst shootings of that year occurred in Florida. At 2:21 pm EST, gunshots could be heard ringing throughout the halls of Stoneman Douglas High School. At the address of 5901 Pine Island Rd, 17 people were killed and 17 people were injured. After the incident began to unfold and became public, parents rushed to the school only to find it surrounded by police blocking all access to inside the building. This shooting was dubbed The Parkland Shooting and developed into a day the city of Pompano Beach (Parkland) would never forget.

More information on the Parkland Shooting can be found at: https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/14/us/florida-high-school-shooting/index.html


Map


Other information about the shootings which took place in 2018 can be found on this map. Visualizing this data is crucial to understanding where the most shootings occur and, in turn, to determine the level of required intervention.
In this map, we can see the majority of shootings occur in the mid-west to eastern U.S. regions. Additionally, most of the largest shootings took place in municipalities.


Graphic Visual

Reviewing the 2018 shooting data also helps to answer the question “Which months had the most shootings”. The following plot was chosen to answer this question as it succinctly compares the number of shootings to the month. Additionally, each bar is filled with a shade of blue that is conditional upon the value of the bar. Not only does this separate one bar from the rest, but is an alternative way to compare each value.

The graphic above tells us that there was an increase in shootings during the summer months of June and July. Interestingly, there were also fewer shootings during December, the month most often associated with mental distress.